Three Exonerated Former Death Row Prisoners Urge Florida's Governor-Elect to Halt Executions

Three Florida prisoners who were exonerated after being sentenced to death have called on the state's incoming governor, Byron Donalds, to halt its record run of executions and review the cases of all 235 prisoners now on death row.

They spoke on Thursday at a press conference in Tallahassee hosted by Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP), saying they were seeking a roundtable discussion with Donalds, a Republican, and the state's new legislative leaders in pursuit of a moratorium.

Florida leads the United States in both executions and exonerations. Next Thursday's scheduled execution of convicted murderer Thomas Overton will be the state's 20th this year, one more than the record of 19 set in 2025.

Herman Lindsey was exonerated in 2009 after spending three years on death row following a wrongful conviction for the 1994 killing of a pawn shop owner. He said he hoped Donalds would be more sympathetic than termed-out Governor Ron DeSantis, who will have signed 50 death warrants by the time he leaves office.

Lindsey, who is also executive director of Witness to Innocence, an organisation supporting death row exonerees, addressed Donalds directly, saying he did not look like a barbaric person and urging him to re-evaluate the death penalty and investigate before using it.

Lindsey said it was not about Donalds ending the death penalty; he wanted to give the governor the knowledge to learn what he needed about the death penalty so he could make valid, right decisions.

His call was backed by Joaquín José Martínez and Seth Penalver, fellow Witness to Innocence advocates who were also among the 30 condemned prisoners exonerated in Florida since the death penalty was reintroduced nationwide in 1976.

Penalver was in prison for 18 years, 13 of them on death row, for a triple homicide in 1994 for which he was later acquitted. He said 30 men were convicted and sentenced to die and those convictions were wrong, adding that a person facing execution cannot afford for everyone to assume somebody else has already checked everything.

Martínez was sentenced to death in 1997 for a double murder and exonerated in 2001, when a court heard that some evidence against him had been fabricated by a relative of one victim who worked at the investigating sheriff's office, and that several informants were promised rewards for false testimony. He said it was time to evolve, time to change, and time to end the death penalty.

Grace Hanna, executive director of FADP, said her group was keen to work with Donalds after he takes office, adding that people most impacted by Florida's broken death penalty used their voices to reach the incoming governor and advocate for a pause in executions.

Donalds' office was contacted for comment. In a statement to the Miami Herald, a representative for his transition team suggested such a moratorium was unlikely, saying Donalds is a staunch supporter of the death penalty and will govern as such.